Category: travel

Dad’s got Texas on his brain and can’t seem to get Plano off his mind…

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A few weeks ago, I spent about a week in Dallas, Texas. This was both a personal and business visit. Personal first, business last. My brother and family live in Plano, Texas and they always show me a great time.

This time was extra special because, I got to eat the cheapest and most delicious Indian Food I’ve ever had. As my friends know me, my mantra is always “if it’s cheap or free it’s for me”. I try to be the ultimate in frugal. It doesn’t always work out, but I’m pretty proud of the ability to find deals.

In the Plano Area I’ve found 2 places that fit the bill for me for cheap and good eats

Mexican Food – $1 for a sit down meal for tacos. Chito’s has fresh chicken, fish, pork and beef tacos, you can’t go wrong. The salsa combinations are to die for as well

Indian Food – 99 cent daily specials at India Bazaar in Plano! Every day a special that you don’t want to miss. These are not just samples, but a full serving of amazing vegetarian food like Paani Puri, Bhel, and the topper, pure sugar cane juice

Beer and Darts – $2 dollar drafts and free games of Darts at Fox and Hound.. You can’t beat that. I’ve never played darts, but when you get a bullseye, that is worth the price of admission. Oh by the way, there is no admission charge! Only problem with this place is that it allows smokers and it doesn’t have a non-smoking section.. I gotta remember the name of this place. Highlight of this place was and I swear this would never happen to me in NJ.. A guy I just met sees that I don’t know how to set up the darts says.. let me help you and he gives me the edges to the darts out of the kindness of his heart. In NY/NJ.. they would tell you to go to..

After my awesome visit with my brother, I went to the pinnacle of luxary: The Hilton Anatole , in Downtown Dallas.Let me tell you I’ve been travelling for so many years for both business and pleasure, this hotel is #1 on my places I’d like to stay again in. From having the beautiful artwork (Including having 2 pieces of the Berlin wall, multiple Buddha statues, the Indian artwork, the pictures). This place is state of the art and huge! I felt like I died and went to heaven! You gotta see it to believe it!

I have to tell you, If I had my druthers, I’d be planning my relocation to Plano Texas.. Every one of my financial issues would be solved instantly. Yet I know, my Kismet/Karma is not that good. I’m destined to continue struggle daily in the Garden State.. oh well such is life.

Oh wait, I can close my eyes anytime and I can visualize myself living in Plano and being Dad’s taxi driving my daughter from activity to activity!

If you really want to see the country and see multiple airports, be sure you fly stand-by at least once in your life!

Today, my younger daughter and I left early in the morning for a trip to visit my brother and his family. We decided to fly “stand by” since my wife had a few extra passes from her stint at an Airline she worked for last year.

We started our adventure in the wee hours of the morning (4:30 AM) from the suburbs of Middletown, NJ to Newark Liberty Airport in Newark. Being optimistic I figured with a changeover in St. Louis, we’d be arriving in Dallas by 10:30 AM Local time.. Wrong!

We got to St. Louis and that’s when our gate shuffle started. Our intended flight to Dallas was full and we were told to go another gate (10 Gates over) to try for the next connecting flight.. We get to the second gate and we are told by a very very nice gate agent that there is not much of a chance of us to get on THIS flight. Yet I have to tell you something, the gate agents at Southwest are one of the most helpful gate agents you will ever meet. Honest Truth!

They must have seen my pathetic and futile expression and the gate agent scoured all the flights that would enable me to get to my destination in the easiest manner. She sent us BACK to the gate we came from to get on another flight to Tulsa to connect to another (wide open) flight to Dallas! Yes! we were now back in business!

I have to tell you, the helpfulness of “Joy” was truly a joy for us. She fought with her stuck stapler and got us the necessary paperwork, so we could go back to our originating gate and get on the flight to Tulsa!

So we go back to Gate 10, and wait patiently as all the “paid” passengers board the flight to Tulsa.. With dread a sense of despair, I tell my daughter “Well I guess we will have to keep trying”. That’s when the gods of “stand by travel” shined on us.. We were the last 2 seated on the Tulsa flight! Year us!

We got to Tulsa, Oklahoma and jumped on the next connector flight to Dallas! Lucky for us, the Tulsa to Dallas flight was wide open! Oh Happy days!

We finally get to Dallas by 1:30 PM CST and the only casualty of this endless journey is one broken wheel on a checked bag in St. Louis!

Lessons to be learned from this adventure about the perils of flying stand by:

Don’t travel stand-by during the summer months! You are guaranteed to get “bumped” on full flights.

Leave plenty of time, for the fact that you are at the mercy of flights being full.

Don’t travel on Monday’s! Monday is known to be one of the most heavy days for air travel with commuters and vacationers traveling

Develop patience and accept the fact you will be sitting somewhere, waiting for some flight to open for you to travel on!

Avoid stand-by Travel if at all possible!

Pick locations that may be easy to get to.. the larger the city.. the less likely of success in stand-by travel.

Updated on 7/30/2012:

The follies continued on my way back to Newark from Dallas. I gotta tell you one thing, if you ever fly standby, you should never fly an airline that doesn’t have direct flights (Southwest). Don’t get me wrong, the Southwest employees are really helpful and sympathetic both on board and on the ground..

So thing about this trip. We started from Love Field in Dallas at about 8 AM and we landed at Newark at almost Midnight. Yes 12+ hours for a trip that should normally take 3 to 4 hours if you flew direct!

Our original flight to Chicago (Midway) was sold out so we went to the next gate so we could find an alternate route. Even the gate agent was frustrated yet she finally got us on a flight to Houston, TX, so we could at least have a better chance of getting home as a stand-by passenger

So we get to Houston from Dallas and now we are looking for an alternate route. We get on a flight from Houston to St.Louis via Birmingham. Remember if you can get bumped at any stop! We got lucky and ended up at St Louis by Mid-Day and felt lucky.

We were put on a flight to Chicago (Midway) and we got there by Mid Afternoon. After about a 2 hour layover and a boarding pass for a Newark flight in our hand, we felt that we were almost there! Not!

Our flight to Newark was delayed by 2+ hours due to T-Storms in Newark area. Yes the news gets better and better!? so the flight that was to leave at 6:30 PM left at about 9 PM for our final destination: Newark NJ!

We finally arrived to Newark by Midnight! So our long journey for day into night was finally over!

‘We went from Dallas –> Houston –> Birmingham —> St. Louis —> Chicago –> Newark NJ in a period of 15 hours! We changed planes 3 times and I think we must have traveled over 3 thousand Miles! This journey took more time than a normal journey from US to India!

In all my years of traveling standby, this had to be the longest journey I ever had! All I could say was Wow! I think I am now a veteran of flying standby. If you ever fly standby:

Be flexible and leave yourself plenty of time to get from Point A to Point B

Be prepared for detours!

Don’t travel during the Summer vacation times

Don’t travel during Monday or Saturday! Almost every day has a heavy load, but these 2 days happen to be the worst

Be nice to the Gate Agents. Almost everyone will empathize and try to get you on board if they can!

Vacation Journal summary from India for March 2010 tour of India by Dad’s taxi and his family.

So this is the last day of our vacation in India.. The kids and wife are in Mumbai and I’m in New Delhi awaiting my trip back to the US tomorrow morning.

We all started early this morning from Kochin after our 5 day drip to the great state of Kerala. We had a total blast on the houseboat, the hill station in Munnar and the shopping in Kochin.

We are all weary from this long trip as we have traversed across India to see the beauty, culture and lands. We have truly seen the beautiful land that is today’s India. No doubt, the wealth of India is in it’s people. The economics of change and the growing wealth is visible everywhere with the amount of money that is flowing in this country. Regardless of where you go, Indians are the most friendly and enthusiastic citizens I have seen. Regardless of what they do for a living or their socio-economic status, they are all happy. From the taxi driver to business man, they are pursuing their dreams for the good life and success.

I did not meet anyone in my 3 weeks that I could say was bitter or mean spirited (Of course I exclude myself from this formula).

The wealth that is in India is amazing. Money is everywhere and there is money to be made everywhere. It’s just a matter of where you look and how you utilize the opportunity that you are presented with.

To me this whole trip was eye opening.. Life without a doubt is different from my life in New Jersey. People do struggle no doubt about it. Yet from all my relatives that I met and all the people from the service industry (travel and tourism) that I interacted with, everyone is striving for a better life. You do not see unhappiness.

Perhaps I’m looking through rainbow colored sunglasses, but what I see is a wealthy nation that’s strength is it’s people. Technology is driving the wealth across the country. The spirit of the Entrepenneur is alive and thriving here.

I will go out on a limb and say this: Within the next 2 to 5 years, India will surpass all countries with their technological advances. The infrastructure to support this technology is a work in process across the country as you will witness the road construction going on everywhere in the country.

The problems that India continues to face is: Corruption at all levels, and population growth that continues to grow unabated.

From the places I visited this time, below is my ranking of places that I find to be the best places in Incredible India!

Munnar (Hill Station Retreat)

Kochin (the Houseboats tour)

Goa (Beach Resorts)

New Delhi (Tourism)

Pune (Visiting Relatives)

Mumbai (Shopping/Food)

I have yet to see all of what India presents, but I plan to do so over the next few years, as Dad’s taxi continues to explore the country that he is proud to say is in his DNA.

As I’m fully recovered (thank god) from the bout of food poisioning, I realize that what I love the most (food) is the true reason for any ailments that befall me when I come to India.

After my return, I’ll go back and update my travels with additional thoughts on my visit.

In India right now the rage is the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Cricket. Indians are fanatical about their cricket and honestly, I’m starting to get into it as well I continue my vacation tour of the country..

The IPL is similar to Major League Baseball where players are “drafted” and teams are created for cities. The owners of these teams are Bollywood stars that have bought these teams. Each match is a quick match (only a few hours, as opposed to the days normal cricket matches take.

Suffice it to say the IPL is like Baseball on Steroids when it comes to sport in India.. I’m still trying to understand the game, but when it comes to cricket, the madness rules in India. Every action related to the IPL is microscoped and analyzed. Any comment by an owner is scrutinized.. Hey wait.. it’s similar to the National Football League as well!

Pune is designated as a city for the IPL.. Full credit for everything beyond this goes to Deepak Iyer. I read about his blog entry in the local paper. The following rules for watching Puneri IPL cricket matches.. These rules for fan behavior are posted outside the stadium whee the matches are to be played.. I don’t know whether these rules are for real, but knowing the Puneri attitude, I suspect these rules are very real…

I found these rules to be very entertaining to say the least. What amused me the most was that I think that the rules listed below are Not in jest, but rules that will be enforced..

As a courtesy to the blogger (Deepak Iyer), I have extracted in it’s entirety (including the Marathi font of devangi) for your viewing pleasure.. Keep up the great work Deepak!

Please remember that you are watching the match in a city that is the epitome of culture. Do not bring disgrace to Pune by making lewd gestures or ogling at the cheerleaders. Such acts will be met with not just police action, but also with public humiliation.

Matches played during the night will be charged extra. It will be the organizers’ responsibility to end the match by 8 p.m. The rest of the match may be played out the next day, at the sole discretion of the team management.

We hereby declare that ‘IPL Pune team’ has no affiliation to ‘Mumbai Indians’. Any transactions done with Mumbai Indians will not be honoured by us just because they are Marathi too. Likewise, do not inquire about Mumbai Indians here.

Please note that this is a cricket team. Do not needlessly make inquiries or demands for our players to make appearances at singing competitions, water-fountain inaugurations, ribbon-cutting ceremonies or other similar activities.

Donation seekers, benefit-match organizers, survey-takers or representatives of any organization seeking ‘free passes’ for publicity and similar persons or entities are strictly prohibited. No concessions shall be made on this policy for any reason.

We are aware that competing IPL teams play for a lower price — you do not have to inform us. Such teams know what their performance is worth. Quality is of utmost importance to us, so we will not consider lowering our price.

Under the terms and conditions agreed upon, you will not receive any t-shirts, track pants, caps, bats, balls, etc. as memorabilia after the tournament. Do not display your obscene greed here. Tantrums won’t work.

So we came here yesterday after cutting our Goa trip short by a few days.. Heat being the key contributing factor to cutting our trip short..

Personal note: After my return, you will hear more of our horrible experience in using Make My Trip services. Double charging, Horrible/pathetic customer service, overall not a pleasant experience.. Fortunately, my wife has been dealing with them (god bless her fortitude and patience in dealing with the incompetence she dealt with in changing our plans!)

After almost missing our flight from Goa even though getting to the airport 2 hours earlier, we got on the puddle jumper to Pune.. We we were the last ones to board as there were no announcements of boarding. We would have missed the flight, if not for the King Fisher personnel that went through the terminal looking for stragglers!

After almost missing our flight from Goa even though getting to the airport 2 hours earlier, we got on the puddle jumper from Goa to Pune.. King Fisher Airlines…Great Local service in India!. which airline in the US will give you a decent snack for a flight less than 1 hour? Kudos to the King Fisher team. See I am capable of saying nice he things for good service!

We arrived in Pune and oh boy has Pune Grown! The airport (in Lohgaon) is in the outskirts of town.. Near the city prison and near the air force station!

Best part of the day was going for my favorite ice cream/shake treat. It’s called mastani.This absolutely delicious concoction of milkshake and Ice cream (various flavors), will leave you in a diabetic coma (guaranteed).

Where I live in Pune – Sadhashiv Peth – Sujata

Sujata Mastani
On Sadashiv Peth, this landmark parlor for Mastani ice creams still rules the roost when it comes to luscious, syrupy liquids and dollops of high-calorie ice cream that go into the making of an immaculate Mastani, fortified with a lot of other flourishing superfluities.

The flavor that is the most popular remains the most sold- Mango. As an frequenter of Sujata from childhood to have the delectable Mango Mastani, says, “This is the highlight of my visits to Pune. The tangy mango taste steeped in the dense fluid has no match”.

So Dad’s taxi escaped the heat of Goa yesterday… We cut short our trip in Goa, as it became quite apparent that the heat would get the best of us (Me specifically). We spent our last full day in Goa at the beach (I think it was Tito’s Beach).. Near Arpora.

Highlights of Goa:

Heat is unbearable, unless you like to deep fry on the beaches and while you tour

Goan Food/Seafood (fish, prawns, calamari, crab) is to die for.. You will not find such delicious food/seafood anywhere else in the world. Goan spices make the seafood just a treat!

When you order food, make sure u know what you are odering.. Pancakes can turn into crepes very easily.

When you order any “masala” dish, make sure you order Mild, unless you want to pay for it later.. we won’t go here.

Shopping Nirvana.. There is no such thing as a fix price. Everything is negotiated down from the asking price.

Go to the local market and learn the skill of haggling for a few rupees.. My best method: “Shake your head, and walk away”.

Look for Bargains and carry a calculator, you will easily pay more if you don’t know what is the value in your local currency!

Roads are narrow, and taxis are expensive! With the generous conversion rate from $ to Rupee, you still come out ahead.

Do not go to Goa in Summer.

The Goanese people are very friendly and helpful. Friendliest people you could ever meet. They are soo happy…

You must rent a scooter if you are staying at a resort. I didn’t do it as I was with my family and none of them wanted to ride with me.. hmm.. probably with my history of accidents on 2 and 3 wheeled vehicles gave them just cause. 🙂

Be prepared to spend lots and lots of money..

If you are looking to buy a summer house, Goa is the place for you.. with construction going on.. you can pick and choose where you want to buy.. Be prepared to pay thru the nose….

European and Foreign Tourism is putting a lot of money into Goa.. Many foreigners now call Goa their 12 month home.

Overall, my trip to Goa was great. Incredible scenery.. Beaches, Food, Shopping, and great fun to be had. My next trip will be during a cooler time, so I can visit some more churches and temples…

I will always consider to be one of my favorite places.. My special attachment to Mangeshi is the clincher for my reason as to why I will come again and again to Goa!

My next posting will be about Pune.. Another one of my favorite cities..

So Dad’s Taxi has been in Alpora Goa for a few days now and only a few words words can describe my stay here thus far… Sticky, Hot, Humid, and just overall very difficult. Even if I took a shower 2 to 3 times a day, I’d still be bathed in sweat as soon as I stepped outside my air condititioned Suite

The Royal Goan Resort is ok.. Nothing outstanding… The most memorable thing is paying for all the utilities during my stay and the huge walk up hill that takes your breath away whenever you have to go back to our room… Don’t look forward to that now either while carrying my laptop! 😦

Goa is truly a tourist trap.. I have not been here for 20 years and no way I could recognize the Goa that I knew to what it is today. Today’s Goa is fast roads and cars and new construction everywhere for vacation properties that are being snatched up by everyone. If you got the cash and can stand the sloooow pace, this is the place for you.

The natives are really nice, even as they over charge you for the taxi rides. Rides that should cost 5 to 10 rupees cost 50 to 100 Rupees. God bless the all mighty dollar for the conversion rate.

Today we went to Mangeshi. This is the town where my Mom was born and raised and during my childhood, I always considered to be my second home. The Mangeshi Temple today is a mecca for the tourists and visitors to Goa. To me it is still home.. Today when I visited the temple and the place where I spent many a summer vacation, I felt the pangs of recognition and the emotions raced through my mind as thoughts and images of my late mother flashed through my memories.. I had to hold back many a tear as the pangs of these memories at times were overwhelming for me.

Seeing my Uncle and his family also was a joy.. So much has changed in 20 years.. I promised to myself that I would not wait another 20 years before I visit Mangeshi again.. Next time I will stay at my uncle’s house as this is truly where I belong..

In Old Goa we saw the Basilica of Bom Jesus (A world Heritiage Site). I felt at peace when I saw this shrine for St. Xavier. I could have spent the whole day in this church and listened to the tour guides for this site. If in Goa, you must visit this site!

As I sit under this roaring fan, I’m still sweating profusely and I realize that I could go on and on about the beauty of Goa.. To see Goa is to really appreciate it. We are staying in a European tourist ridden area named Aspora by the Portugese, and this is a beach town!

The variety of Sea food in this area is just beyond belief!

Where we are staying is great, but the biggest annoyance is carrying my laptop down to the registration area for Wi-Fi Access. Don’t know why this is the case that Wi-Fi is only in this small area, but there must be a business reason behind it.. I just don’t think it’s convenient to the guests. I took down 2 stars for this nuisance.. My teenage daughter does not seem to mind as she’s been uploading our trip pictures to her Facebook account and keeping in touch with her friends in the US.

As I take prepare for the trek up the hill to my room, let me leave with this thought.. Goa is a beauty of a place to visit. You should absolutely put it on your list of cities in India that you must see!

Like this:

Dad’s taxi is in Mumbai this week on vacation.. see his travel diary..

We came to Mumbai on the 15th of March and we quickly realized what Indian Summer truly is.. The heat is on! We’ve been here a few days now and I gotta tell you, the blistering daytime heat just drains you of all your energy. You are constantly bathed in sweat (not a pretty picture) and feeling exhaustion. Fortunately for us, my cousin in Mumbai has an amazing house with Air conditioning and the works.. Thank god for my dear Ravi!

When we are at Ravi’s house, we are truly home.. all the conveniences of home, plus all the love and affection that anyone could want. At times, we just don’t even want to leave the house in Mahim. His building is centrally located in Mumbai with easy access to both downtown and uptown parts of Mumbai..

We had planned to do some sightseeing, but due to the heat, we have just spent the last few days Shopping!

My younger daughter is really suffering from the heat. She just refuses to go outside, unless she gets bribed.. oh well nothing new here.

From the last time I visited Mumbai ( 2 years ago), you can see the infrastructure changes that have taken place. Similar to Delhi, there are many more flyovers (bridges) in place to alleviate the traffic congestion. These flyovers do this purpose, but the traffic getting to these flyover’s is just unbearable. Especially if you are sitting in an non air conditioned Fiat taxi..

FYI: The rule of driving in Mumbai: There are none! Do not look sideways or backwards, only look forwards.. I have to commend the drivers of Mumbai, they certainly would feel at home driving in Manhattan. Blaring horns and heavy traffic at every turn. Even with the price of gas hovering at about $5 a gallon, it has not discouraged the mubaiites from buying cars.. Cars are smaller of course, but they are quite comfortabe.

Due the enormous influx of money..many families are living the good life, with cars, drivers to drive their car, and over 200 channels of satellite TV!

As a passenger in a car the front, try not to look anywhere but straight forward as this alleviates the anxiety that you will feel when you are in the car. Fortunately, the speed of the cars is only about 25 to 30 mph on the roads. The number of cars, taxis, buses, trucks, pedestrians all sharing the road in unbelievable. Rush hour is 24 hours. You may get better results if you try to travel in Mumbai during early morning hours or after 9:00 PM, otherwise, good luck.

Mumbai is a tale of two cities. The “Haves” and the “Have Not’s.”

In order to survive in this city you have to have Money and lots of it. If you don’t have the lots of the Rupee you will be in serious jeopardy of survival. Fortunately for me, I’m here spending in converted $ and let me tell you something, the value that you get for the $ here is excellent due to the 1 to 45 conversion ratio.

If I were to earn in Rupee, it would be difficult for me to spend 2 to 3 Thousand (yes I said thousand) the way I am right now. Of course this amount only includes the taxi’s, food and miscellenous expenses that you incur on a day to day basis.

If you are coming to India, I recommend you pad your bank account and bring an ATM card… You will hit the bank over and over again. Remember that you will get the highest rate when you do your conversions at the ATM machine and face fees from both the local and your bank. Be careful and don’t take small amounts out.. take larger amounts out?

For the past few days we have been seeing a few of my cousins in Mumbai and doing quite a bit of clothes shopping for the girls. Best thing about shopping in India is that when they know you are spending money, you will be offered soft drinks as soon as you sit down. You are treated like royalty at the mega malls. Of course we are flagged as “foreigners” as we are wearing shorts and have our famous “American Accent”.

The city on the whole is huge bustling metropolis with business and residential towers being built everywhere. The roads are under construction which contributes to the traffic jams!

The construction of tall towers, residential (unaffordable) towers, is just unbelievable. The common man (middle class) will be priced out of most of the housing that’s being built.. In one of my prior blogs, I talked about the slums… Well from what I’m seeing, these slums are being torn down one by one and being replaced with high rise buildings… The rules have gotten stricter so the lower class slum dwellers are now getting new housing and are being forced to utilize them for a period of 5 years. In the past I heard that these slum dwellers, took the money and just relocated. Now these slum dwellers are actually living in the government towers being built. This is great progress.

Don’t misunderstand me, the poverty is still here.. It just seems to be more controlled. I look around and I see a lot less beggers. Perhaps I’m not looking close enough? When I was in the upscale part of Mumbai (by the Taj and the Gateway of India), the beggers were out in full force.

Everyone here tells me that the difference between lower to middle to upper class has gotten wider.. I do tend to agree, but opportunities abound everywhere. If you want a job, a job is there in the multiple mega malls that continue to spring up all across Mumbai. I went to one yesterday in Mumbai. The Phoenix is a mega mall with food court, Staples, Supermarket, restaurants, Best Buy Type electronic store, Movie Theaters. As you will quickly see, the trend to having a super mall is all over Mumbai. The security and the choice of one-stop-shop is exemplified in these Malls. Every suburb in Mumbai has at least one mall! Oh goodie, more places for me to spend.

These super malls are not driving the local markets out of business. The malls provide an upscale shopping environment. The local markets are a sight to see as well. Fruit stalls, vegetable vendors, small stores.. it is a crazy sight that you have to see to believe!

High Street Phoenix is spread across three zones — Skyzone, Courtyard and Main Street Boulevard. While the leading national and international retail outlets feature in Sky zone, Courtyard represents various eating joints, The Bowling Co and Big Bazaar outlet. MainStreet Boulevard houses formal and casual clothes, premium accessories and jewellery brands.

These types of malls are seen all over Mumbai and they are truly a joy to shop in with every possible product you may want to purchase. Some of the prices do compare to the US, yet others (electronics) are easily double.

Tip: Make sure you bring along a calculator to convert from Rupees to Dolllars. You could easily destroy any resembence of a budget by not doing the proper conversions.

Today we just came back from the Colaba Causeway. We did quite a bit of shopping from the street vendors and the exclusive boutiques.. Negotiating with the street vendors is an art..

Tip: Walking away is the best way to get a best price.. Never ever pay the asking price. The boutiques are all fixed price..

Tomorrow we are off to Goa! It is one of the vacation paradises in India.. Beaches and sun! To me Goa is my ancestral home. I have quite a bit of family in this seaside city which is South of Mumbai.. More heat, yeah!

Leaving Mumbai with this thought: Within the next few years, Mumbai will become wealthier than any city in the US. Technology, wealth, infrastructure and the business’s that call Mumbai home will grow exponentially. I am really overwhelmed by what I see here and hope to come back and spend more time in the city where I was born the next time I visit.

PS: I forgot.. the food.. the food is to die for. You can get any type of food within any locale. Where we stay in Mahim, you only have to about 500 yards and you have a choice of vegetarian, non-veg, chinese, goanese and South Indian cuisine.. Oh yeah.. I forgot the pizza joint! The quality of food is amazing! I can easily gain 10 to 15 pounds if I stay here for more than a few days..

There is so much more I can write about this city.. I am just totally overwhelmed by my visit this time.. I’m not only proud to call myself an ex-pat from this great city, but an admirer of the abilities of the residents of this great metropolis.. You know how they say about NY: “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere..”, Mumbai can easily step into NY’s shoes and say the same thing..

If someone can make it with success in this city, they can succeed any where!

So we’ve been here for a few days now and tonite we leave for Mumbai. This is my new favorite city to visit.. I’m totally impressed with New Delhi and this is city which you can sped days and days seeing it from it from end to end. As a capital city, you can see that the cleanup of the city in preparation for the commonwealth games is almost done. Construction is everywhere.

Road construction is everywhere. New “flyover” are being built.. and this is truly a “Rich” city. Rich not just with culture and politics, but with the wealth that is apparent everywhere you look.

Yesterday, we visited a family friend and he we were talking about New Delhi and he presented an interesting perspective.. He indicated that New Delhi is being cleaned up to “hide” the true poverty that exists. The beggers have been thrown either in jail or pushed out of the city, so they are not visible to the visitors of the capital.. I was surprised to see this but perhaps that’s why I saw so few beggers during my few days here.

Outside New Delhi city limits, you will see the poverty and how the lower class lives.. they work hard to make ends meet.

It seems in this city the middle class is the wealthiest. From what I have heard the gap between the lower-middle-upper classes is growing wider.. I know this is true for Mumbai but I can’t say I agree/disagree with this as I really am a newbie to the city.

Yesteday was so much fun.. We cancelled Agra as the kids had no interest.. they are more interested in hanging out with their cousins. They are having an absolute blast..

Our relatives took the kids and me on long drive yesterday to this place called “Karnal Haveli” about 125 miles outside Delhi. This place was so much fun for the kids (Magic Shows, go carts, bhangra dancing, great food!). M

Tonite we leave for Mumbai.. We had a blast in New Delhi.. now onwards to Mumbai! I’ll upload my pics on my Facebook account..

Right now, I’m just soaking up New Delhi.. I truly misjudged this city. Even though the traffic is unbearable.. the City is truly a treat for the eye and everything in between.